One of the reasons music can be such a successful tool in teaching literacy skills to children is because music and reading by themselves are both enjoyable for leisure. When we enjoy something, we relax. When we are relaxed, our minds are more open to accepting new information.

If children watch a video with only visual aids to reinforce the concept in a song, the images become symbols that bring meaning to the words they are hearing. In the video below, for example, there are no words on the screen, just four different animals that represent different melodies. The animals represent the four pitches of the music, baritone, tenor, alto and soprano, which come together to make a pleasant four-part harmony.

Children will learn to associate each animal with its accompanying music:

If the video associated with the song you’re learning has LYRICS making their way across the screen, children are exercising literacy awareness and building reading skills. It’s similar to the effectiveness of using the pocket chart, in terms of helping children follow the flow of words to a poem or song. Click here to read my post about pocket charts and songs.

Music has a magical way of feeding the mind information subconsciously. Lyrics sink in naturally as children hear their favourite tunes repeatedly. Add the visual component of lyrics appearing on the screen as the song plays, and you’re “sneaking in” literacy training while their focus is captured by the music and video.

While your children/students are learning about the weather, the months of the year, the days of the week, counting etc., they are also learning about sentence structure from the words moving across the screen.

The following list of musical literacy videos includes selections from my YouTube channel that include lyrics popping up to help reinforce early reading skills.